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London, May 24 — There was the usual crowd of persons in the Old Bailey Courtroom today when Sir Edward Clarke addressed the jury in behalf of his client. Oscar Wilde, who is charged with serious misdemeanors. Wilde was called to the witness box and was provided with a chair, as he seemed to be utterly broken down. Wilde, in answer to the questions put to him related how he had been on terms of intimacy with the Marquis of Queensberry’s family for years, and entirely denied the charges made against him.

Sir Frank Lockwood closely examined the defendant regarding his relations with Lord Alfred Douglas, as to how it came to pass that they occupied adjoining rooms, etc. Wilde admitted that he had made repeated visits to the rooms of Alfred Taylor, where he met a number of young men. Wilde also admitted his intimacy with other young men, whose names were mentioned during the previous trial.

Sir Edward Clarke briefly re-examined Wilde, and then made his final address to the jury, asking them to save the defendant from the ruin of his reputation, which, he added, had been nearly quenched by the torrent of prejudice in the press. Sir Frank Lockwood followed for the prosecution, but he had barely begun his address when the court was adjourned for the day.

The Marquis of Queensberry, in an interview, is quoted as saying: "I do not wish to see Wilde further punished. He has suffered enough. I only want to keep the beast from my son." When the Marquis was asked what he thought would be the verdict in Oscar Wilde’s case, he said: "I am willing to forfeit 1000 to 1 that Wilde is acquitted. There are many names back of this thing that say so. I have as much chance of dropping dead in the street today as Oscar Wilde has being of found guilty."

At the trial of Oscar Wilde the prisoner was called to the witness stand on the 21st May, and given a chair, as he seemed almost broken down.

In answer to questions, he related how he had been on terms of intimacy with the Marquis of Queensberry's family for years, and entirely denied the charges made against him.

Sir Frank Lockwood, Solicitor-general, subjected the defendant to half an hour's severe cross-examination.

The accused said Lord Alfred Douglas was in Paris, whither he went three weeks before at his request. Wilde, it appeared, was in constant communication with Lord Alfred.

When Wilde was asked about the famous letters he had written to Lord Douglas which were read at the time of the first trial, the defendant said it was a beautiful way in which an artist would write to a cultured young man.

Taking up the letter Wilde had written to Lord Alfred praising his "red roseleaf lips" and "slim gilt soul" that "walked between poetry and passion," Sir Frank asked the defendant whether he considered this letter decent. Wilde replied: "Decency does not come into the question."

"Do you understand the meaning of the word?" asked the counsel sternly.

"Yes," replied Wilde.

Wilde admitted that he made repeated visits to the rooms of Alfred Taylor, where he met a number of young men. Wilde also admitted his association with the other young men whose names were mentioned in the previous trial.

Sir Edward Clarke briefly re-examined Wilde, and then made his final address to the jury, asking them to save the defendant from the ruin of his reputation, which, he added, had been nearly quenched by the torrent of prejudice in the press—(Applause).

Sir Frank Lockwood followed for the prosecution, but he had barely begun his address when the court adjourned for the day.

The Marquis of Queensberry is reported as saying "I do not wish to see Oscar Wilde further punished. He has suffered enough. I only wish to keep the beast from my son. Everyone knows Wilde is no better than Alfred Taylor." When asked what he thought the verdict would be he said, "I am willing to forfeit 1000 to 1 that Wilde is acquitted. There are many names back of this thing."

CLOSE OF THE TRIALS.

Oscar Wilde's trial having reached the final stage on May 25, the Old Bailey Courtroom was filled with interested spectators. Sir Frank Lockwood, Solicitor-general, concluded his address to the jury. The prisoner's intimacy with Lord Alfred Douglas and the conduct of defendant at hotels and public places in and about London were severely commented on. Referring to the letters Wilde wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas, counsel said the jury had been told that they were too low to appreciate such

poetry, and he thanked God it was so, for it showed that they were above the level of beasts. This outburst was followed by applause, which the judge promptly suppressed.

Sir Edward Clarke, leading counsel for Wilde, here interposed objections to such appeals.

Sir F. Lockwood asked the jury to return a verdict which would prevent "such detestable and abominable vice from rearing its head unblushingly in this country."

A more abject, pitiable spectacle than Wilde presented (says the New York World's correspondent) could not be imagined. His face haggard, his eyes bloodshot and sunken, his hair unkempt and tossed. He appeared absolutely dazed. Occasionally his body swayed to and fro, as if he were suffering intense mental agony. He sat in one corner of the dock, with his face turned steadfastly towards the witness stand and the jury, avoiding with nervous terror looking in the direction of the public galleries, where many men who had known him were sitting. He sometimes sought relief in absently drawing lines on a sheet of foolscap paper with a quill pen. His trembling hand got splashed all over with ink, and great blots got on his cuffs. He looked like one in a dream, unconscious of what he was doing. The spectacle of human abasement was shocking. Those who saw this wreck of manhood must have thought he had already atoned, as far as suffering could atone, for his crimes.

Justice Wills began summing up at half-past 1 p.m. the general tenor of his address was favourable to Wilde. During its delivery the foreman of the jury asked whether, in view of the intimacy between Lord Alfred Douglas and Alfred Wood, one of the men whose names had been brought prominently in the case, a warrant for Lord Alfred's arrest had ever been issued. The Judge replied that he thought not. The Foreman then asked if it had ever been thought of. To this the Judge replied that he could not say. He added that the suspicion that Lord Alfred Douglas would be spared if guilty was a wild idea, and a matter that they could not discuss. The present inquiry was as to whether the man in the dock was guilty of immoral practices with certain men.

The jury returned at half-past 5 o'clock, having been absent from court about four hours, and gave in a verdict of guilty. Wilde was found guilty on all the points of the indictment, including the charge with reference to persons unknown, who were also pronounced guilty. This probably refers to the Savoy Hotel evidence, to which place Wilde was accused of taking Charles Parker, a gentleman's servant, after treating the latter to a choice dinner in Kittner's restaurant.

The announcement of the verdict caused a great sensation in the court, as it was the general impression that Wilde would be acquitted. When the foreman of the jury delivered the verdict, Wilde, who had entered the prisoner's dock a moment before, rose from the chair on which he had been seated throughout the trial and stood with his arms on the rail of the dock. The silence which prevailed throughout the courtroom was really painful as Justice Wills ordered that Alfred Taylor should also be summoned before him. Then, in a voice trembling with emotion, the justice said: "I never before had such a case as this to deal with. Two men such as you are by the nature of your crime, lost to all sense of remorse for what you have done. To think that you, Taylor, should be the keeper of a male brothel, and that you, Wilde, a man of culture, should be such a perverter of young men. There is no doubt but that the verdict is a just one, and I shall give you the full penalty allowed by law, and I only regret that it is not more severe. You are both sentenced to hard labour for a term of two years."

Wilde did not look at the judge while the sentence was being pronounced. His eyes roved around the room, and his face never changed colour. He looked like a man who had made up his mind to make the best of a bad situation. Taylor smiled when sentence was pronounced.

As Wilde turned in the dock and started to go back to the prisoners' room, the crowd suddenly yelled:

"Shame!" "Shame!"

This shouting caused Justice Wills to rise and exclaim in a loud and determined voice: "Silence, silence."

During the time the judge was debating on the verdict, Lord Douglas of Hawick strolled out of the court room and into the courtyard, where he walked about nervously smoking a cigarette. His eye still showed the effects of his encounter with the Marquis of Queensberry, his father, being very much discoloured.

During the final stages of the trial there was an immense crowd in front of the Old Bailey, and the windows of all the neighbouring houses were filled with highly-interested spectators.

Wilde and Taylor were, after the conclusion of the trial, conveyed without delay to the Newgate Gaol, where they waited until warrants were signed for their sentence. Both men were then conveyed in the prison van to Pentonville, where they will serve out their sentences, unless a pardon should be granted, or they should be transferred to another prison before the expiration of their sentences.